The Call of The Mountain
by Smogged Troll
Summary: Kouzan may be the son of the enemy but he will keep Konoha safe and he will make his father proud even if he has to put up with Naruto Uzumaki every now and then to do so. Kouzan son of Roshi may not be the most enthusiastic or even the most well liked but hey since when does that matter anyway.


**Hello Naruto fanfiction community I bow to you for forgiveness. I still plan on continuing my first story (Naruto: New Game New Challenge) but stuck for inspiration at the moment I lost a lot of motivation for writing it with all the other Naruto gamer stories floating around. And so I've decided to write this one in the mean time.**

**Anyway this story is about an OC in the Naruto verse he will have a lot to do with the canon storyline but not until around the Chunin exams and will not be good friends with Naruto or the other rookie 9.**

**I do not own Naruto or any property within the story… except maybe the OC's but I don't see what that counts for anything.**

The Mountain's calling:

Sarutobi Asuma had just finished possibly the most boring mission of his life, baring the memories he had of his genin days and D-ranks. His team had just returned from the Fire capital after meeting with Daimyo in order to discuss the need for extra funding following the Nine-tails attack on Konoha. The teenager shivered at the memory of the great beast decimating his village. The rest of his peers and himself included had been forbidden from fighting against the beast though that didn't stop them from seeing the truly terrifying entity destroy most of his home.

After the fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze had defeated the beast through means he didn't really understand yet. The village was up in arms about killing the demon when he was left though he hadn't paid much attention to it. He was still grieving the death of his mother when his father had taken up the mantle of Hokage once again. He'd been called into his father's office the next morning along with his team and had been told they were to go as emissaries of the village to discuss the villages funding with the Daimyo. Thankfully the man hadn't been too disagreeable, he had a few stipulations about the funds but most were easily accomplished, according to his Jonin sensei.

His Jonin sensei was a man of average height though his face was covered in scars that seemed to show his efforts through the war they had just come out of. The man's name was Nara Shikaku and was quite possibly the smartest man in the village save the Hokage himself. He tried to be as respectful to his sensei as he could but the man was just so damn lazy sometimes. He couldn't wait until he could work on more solo missions or at least diversify his training soon. Though he supposed the rest of his Genin team weren't all bad. He himself had been made a Chunin at the last exams before the Kyuubi attack.

He looked to his left seeing the other members of his team, Kurenai Yuhi was the only female on his team. She wore blue shinobi sandals with some bandages wrapped around her ankles which led up to her slender legs. She had a sort of mesh body armour covering her thighs with some more bandages covering the right thigh which also supported a kunai and shuriken pouch. She covered her upper torso with a deep red battle dress with a white trim around the neck line which had a deep V plunge showing off her developing cleavage. She had more mesh armour on underneath though. Asuma grumbled under his breath about the woman's conservativeness. Looking at her face though dismissed all worries the young Sarutobi had against her looks though. Her deep red eyes looked to his own and the young man had to fight down a blush.

Quickly looking away so as not to attract attention from the budding genjutsu mistress he looked to the other male on his team to find. The young man's name was Raido Namiashi A pretty plain looking brunette with average height and dark eyes. He wore a red bandage over the bridge of his nose to hide the weal-like scare he obtained in the Chunin exams. Asuma had never really connected all that well with the guy, sure he was a solid shinobi and had even been picked to be the Fourth Hokage's personal guard after his promotion to Chunin. The guy just didn't have any personality though and this meant Asuma found it hard to connect and be 'buddies' with the guy.

As they jumped through the trees towards the leaf village Asuma noticed a billowing smoke column in the distance. "Sensei, I see smoke in the distance. It looks like it's coming from near Mount Kajin!" Asuma yelled through the forest.

"Hmm it seems you're right. We'll go check it out now it could be a team in need of backup." Shikaku replied while stroking the small beard he possessed. 'This is far too troublesome. But hopefully nothing is wrong.'

The team leapt away into the shadows of the forest.

XxxxxX

A lone shinobi sat at the base of the mountain cradling a small bundle in his arms. "Shh, shh its okay all the bad people are gone now I promise I'll keep you safe." The man had red hair, moustache and beard which tapered off to a point. His hair fell loosely around his shoulders though the remains of a headband could be seen on his head though it was covered in soot and ash. He had a chipped and broken piece of armour covering his nose, also covered in ash and soot. He wore a long sleeved red shirt and pants, both where ripped and stained with blood.

"Hmm it seems we have some more company though little one. The question is whether they are friendly or whether they also wish to die at my hand." The man said as he stood from the small boulder he had previously been sat on. He turned to face Shikaku's team as they landed in the clearing.

As soon as they landed in the clearing the four shinobi couldn't help but wince at the smell of death that assaulted their senses. Bodies were strewn across the clearing most seemed to have been burnt to a crisp though some seemed to have been crushed to near nothingness.

"What has happened here?" Shikaku questioned while slowly shifting into a battle stance his team following in kind.

The man just raised an eyebrow at the Konoha ninja his mouth moved to answer before the bundle in his arms began to cry again. "Ah I will answer that question in a moment, let me just deal with the little one." With that the man's attention turned back to what was revealed to be a small baby in his arms.

The Konoha team didn't quite know what to make of the scene the man opposite them didn't seem to be taking them seriously though he did seem slightly off kilter. Shikaku silently ordered Asuma to check the nearest corpse for village affiliation.

Nodding his head the young Sarutobi moved over to the nearest corpse that didn't seem too mangled and flipped it over. He did a quick scan of the body revealing it to be a man in his mid-twenties. The forehead protector of the man showed him to be a ninja of Iwagakure. He quickly moved over to the next body and found it to be a slender woman with heavy burns all over her body though what surprised him was the Amegakure forehead protector. "Sensei they appear to be a mix of Iwa and Ame ninja."

Shikaku nodded his head, the information was unsettling the possibility of an alliance between the two would prove disastrous for Konoha with the state of the village and its forces at the moment. "I will ask you again sir, what has happened here?"

The unknown man lifted his head to look at the team apparently having forgotten about them. "Ah yes sorry slipped my mind. My name is Roshi and as you can probably see I am or was at least a shinobi of Iwagakure, in fact you probably know me better as "Yoton no Roshi" for various reason I have had to leave my village. Some of my cohorts didn't quite agree with that. So they decided to give me a little chase here. Lot of good it did them though." The man shrugged, though in that moment Shikaku saw the blood leaking from the man's torso. It was clear he had suffered a rather debilitating injury.

"Then how do you explain the Ame shinobi here, and why where you all in Konoha territory?" Shikaku asked the man may have been injured but there was no Konoha shinobi of his status who had not heard of the man in front him. He had been responsible for many deaths in the third shinobi war.

"Hmm oh well on my merry escape I and to stop off in Rain country to pick up this little fella here." He said signalling to the bundle in his arms. A fit of coughs suddenly took him as he fell to a knee. "But enough of that, Come here Nara I promise I won't bite."

Shikaku was inclined to refute the man's offer but the man's injuries were rather severe. He signalled for Asuma to go with him as he moved towards Roshi. He quickly signalled for Raido and Kurenai to keep watch while checking the rest of the bodies, at least the ones recognisable.

"So how can we help Roshi-san I doubt a shinobi of your calibre would ask for our attention without due reason?" While Shikaku spoke Asuma had kneelt down to check on the baby in the bundle but was quickly back-handed away by Roshi.

"Watch it brat, I may need your assistance but you will keep your hands to yourself unless directed understand." Asuma nodded his head a look of shock on his face. The older man had put quite a lot of strength in the attack though Shikaku hadn't moved he assumed his sensei didn't want to risk upsetting the man.

"Anyway I need you to look after the boy for me." Roshi said as he unwrapped the bundle to show a small baby boy with a dirty blonde tuft of hair and red eyes the same colour as Roshi's hair. "I know that Iwa won't stop looking for me and I'd rather not have my son punished for my crimes." Shikaku had a rare look of shock cross his face at the man's declaration. "Now, now I know what you're thinking but I... I beg you take the boy away and make sure he is raised well." He made to continue talking but he suddenly began to cough, he covered his mouth with his hand though all it did was stop the spray of blood that escaped from covering the child in his arms with the red spray.

"Why did you run from Iwa?" Was all Shikaku asked. Despite his vast intellect he couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.

"I wanted to be with the woman I loved… anyway will you take the boy. After what I've done Iwa will undoubtedly kill me and transfer what I hold to the boy. I will not put him through the same life I have lead." Shikaku nodded his head. He knew what the man possessed and he could tell from the injuries he had he would not be able to outrun Iwa forever.

"We'll take him, my father won't have a problem with it. He always did have a soft spot for kids." Asuma said as he stood, he knelt down towards the man silently asking to take the bundle from him.

"Your father… Ah I see it now. You must be the Sandaime's boy I can see the resemblance now." Roshi nodded before returning his attention to the child. "I know you can't hear me know boy but know your mother loved you. As do I. it's unlikely we will ever meet but make sure you make us proud ya hear." The injured man rubbed at his eyes before handing the child over to Asuma.

"What is his name Roshi-san?" Shikaku asked as he watched the man in front of him deflate without the presence of his son in his arms.

"His mother named him Kouzan before she… passed." He paused to look up at the mountain behind them. "Fitting don't you think?" he said with a small smile. "Anyway you must go at once, Iwa doesn't know of the boy but the hunter-nin are undoubtedly close by." He finished shooing the Konoha-nin away.

Shikaku turned to leave signalling his squad to form up before he heard Roshi call him once again. "I don't want him forced into anything but here." He said as he tossed the Nara a scroll. "If he decides to become a shinobi give that to him once he becomes a Genin, it has a lot of my techniques in it. There's also a letter each from me and his mother in it… give them to him when you think he's ready. Sarutobi can decide when that is I trust his judgement. The older one of course this brat seems a bit naive." Asuma grumbled slightly but stopped under a quick glance from his female teammate.

Asuma and Shikaku nodded before turning and jumping into the woods on their way towards Konoha leaving the man alone. Roshi sat back on the boulder before placing some pressure on his torso. 'Anytime you want to fix this up ya useless monkey.' He thought towards his tenant wincing at the response he received. He sat back as he felt its chakra go to work. 'Shouldn't be long now' he thought before closing his eyes waiting for the hunter-nin to arrive. "Good luck Kouzan, I hope you live a great life." He said aloud before drifting off to sleep.

XxxxxX

A day later Hiruzen Sarutobi had taken up the mantle of Hokage once again after his predecessor/successor had died in the battle with nine-tails. The amount of work that needed to be done to stabilize his village and make sure the other nations didn't believe the village had been so weakened to allow for an invasion was quite formidable.

H e sighed to himself thinking over the past few days, though he was brought away from his thoughts by the new arrivals into his office. He looked up to see Shikaku and his team walk through the doors. "Ah Shikaku how was the trip to the capital? Fruitful I hope, the Daimyo can be rather obstinate sometimes."

Shikaku nodded his head in memory of the man who 'ruled' the land of fire. "Hmm it went better than expected at least he agreed to provide the funds needed provided a few details were acquiesced."

"Hmm and what would those requests be perhaps?" Hiruzen asked in response to the man.

"He will provide all the funding requested at the cost of four S-class missions to be redeemed when he sees fit. He is also asking for four ninja from the core to be provided for his service in the twelve guardian ninja." The Hokage grumbled something under his breath but had to agree the terms weren't too bad. He guessed the man would want S-class ranks but four was quite steep. He was more upset about the ninja he would lose. They would have to be at Jonin level in order to protect the man adequately. But the village needed every Jonin they had available.

Sarutobi glanced towards his son, he hadn't noticed the small bundle in his arms when he had come in. shaking his head of that he knew his son had previously been offered a place in the twelve though had declined after the Kyuubi attack. He honestly didn't want his son outside the village but figured it couldn't be helped now.

"The terms are accepted I will send a messenger to let him know at once. Asuma you previously showed interest in being one of the twelve, still interested?" He saw the young man shift uncomfortably while looking at the bundle in his arms.

"I'll do it, honestly I don't particularly want to anymore but I know it's necessary now." He took another quick look at the bundle in his arms before turning back to his leader/father. "I'll be returning after 8 years of service though." The elder Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at that not understanding the odd specifics of it.

"What is that you have in your arms there anyway? I must admit it is rather odd for you bring something into a meeting like this." Shikaku took a stop forward before signalling for the ANBU in the room to leave. They did so without question his position as Jonin commander carrying the required weight.

"That is something or should I say someone that my team and I picked up on our return from the capital." The Hokage didn't understand why the ANBU had been asked to leave but he trusted Shikaku's decisions he may not have been his original Jonin commander but he trusted Minato's decision in appointing the man.

"Okay, so why have you brought a child into my office, and where did you find it?" Shikaku sighed before stroking his beard. He motioned to take a seat opposite the Hokage's desk to which he nodded. Though they didn't expect Asuma to take a seat as well, though the boy hadn't looked at them merely paying attention to the child in his arms.

"This is going to take a while to explain." Shikaku said before going into the explanation of who the child was and how they had come across him. Throughout the old Hokage had kept his face blank only really showing any emotion when chuckling at his son being reprimanded by the foreign ninja.

"So Yoton no Roshi has had some sort of illegitimate child with a woman from Ame and requested asylum for the child here in Konoha. Honestly this not what I expected when I woke up this morning, though nowadays anything seems to be happening in the world now." He motioned for his son to pass him the bundle to which the younger Sarutobi did though with some trepidation apparently he had grown quite attached to the red eyed babe.

"So this is Kouzan son of one of our deadliest enemies in the last war and who knows who else." He said while ruffling the child's hair before pausing when it took a grip on one of his fingers. "Quite the grip he has there. I assume the child has something to do with your stipulation regarding your assignment in the capital Asuma?" His son merely nodded his head not really wanting to go into it right now.

"Very well I will have the boy placed into the orphanage under the presumption he is an orphan from the Kyuubi attack." He turned his attention back to his ninja. "I trust you know not to let the information regarding the boy's heritage to be released beyond this room." Seeing four nods from the team he nodded his head. "Good, Asuma you will need to be prepared to leave for the capital rather soon. Kurenai I hope I can trust you to deliver the boy to the orphanage for me. Let the matron know all funding will provided by the village of course. Also could you check on the Uzumaki child for me… reasons need not be discussed." Seeing the crimson eyed woman nod he smiled and motioned for the team to leave.

Once they had all left his ANBU returned to their positions and the aged warrior lit his pipe before groaning and going back to the paperwork that needed to be done.

XxxxxX

(8 years later)

A young boy with bright red eyes and a mop of dirty blonde hair sat atop the Konoha Orphanage looking over the village. He wore a simple red hoodie with a black trim and a pair of brown cargo shorts. He sat with his legs dangling over the edge leaning back with his elbows propping him up. "Kouzan get down from there it's time to go to the academy!" An older looking girl called from below. The girl had brown hair tied into two buns atop her head making her resemble a panda though he daren't mention that to her the last time he had done so had ended up with a pencil being lodged in his shoulder.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." He called before hopping to one of the lower floors one at a time before landing on the ground in front of the main entrance right next to the girl ignoring the protests from the orphanage workers. Though he couldn't resist the girl punching him sharply in the arm. "What was that for?" He questioned but the girl didn't respond any more than simply grabbing his ear and dragging him out of the gates and toward the academy. "Ow, ow stop I'll walk I'll walk."

Tenten just giggled before letting go and turning to the smaller boy. "Aww what's wrong come on it's your first day at the academy you've got to be pretty excited. If they let you in you get your own apartment and you can finally leave this dump. Mines awesome."

"Yeah, yeah you've told me before Ten-chan. You know I'm not that bothered about being a shinobi I just figure it'll be a decent job and you know I want my own place I'm sick of being cramped here with all other brats."

Tenten merely rolled her eyes at the boy. "They're mostly the same age or older than you I don't get why you call them brats." It was Kouzan's turn to roll his eyes before he put his hands in his pockets before walking toward the academy. "Hey wait up Kouzan don't leave your nee-chan behind."

"I called you it one time let it go." Memories of a year ago when he found out Tenten would be leaving the orphanage returning to mind.

"But it was sooo cute when you started crying." Again Kouzan rolled his eyes before hiding his blush and picking up the pace all the while ignoring Tenten's giggles.

XxxxxX

Asuma Sarutobi sat in the seat of his father's office watching him go over some paperwork for the umpteenth time before the old man looked up apparently only just now noticing his presence. "Ah Asuma I didn't hear you come in. How was your time at the capital then, you didn't write much after the first couple of years."

Asuma suppressed the wince when he heard the hurt in his father's voice. "It was good, there were some problems about a coup at some point but you don't need telling about that. Honestly though it's good to be back home… I missed you Pop." The bearded man said looking away and lighting a cigarette.

"Ha well I never thought I'd hear that. But yes I heard about that, well done by the way. Ah before I forget I figured I'd make your promotion to Jonin permanent, you were only technically a Chunin when you left." The younger Sarutobi smiled at that.

"So how've things been in the village while I've been gone?" Hiruzen's smile slowly faded as he sighed at the question.

"It's getting better our forces are well on the way to recovering from the war and the Kyuubi attack but we won't be back to full strength for about four years I'd say." He ended with a smile proud of his villages will in the face of adversity.

Asuma smiled back at the man before bringing up another topic he'd wanted to talk about. "So how has the little brat been? Didn't really mention him in your letters did you." The Hokage chuckled before reaching into his desk and retrieving a file on one blonde haired kid, carefully ignoring the other one in there with S-class stamped all over it.

"Here's his file, it's nothing extensive of course, and the boy is only just starting the academy today in fact. We clearly couldn't have much information on an eight year old, the only information I can give you is a few reports from the matrons of the orphanage. Not that he'll be living there much longer."

Asuma nodded to his father's words while soundlessly reading the file in front of him.

"Hmm everything about the kid seems fine but what's this about him sending a few of the other boys to the hospital?" Sarutobi gave a chuckle at that.

"Oh yes hmm how do I put it… it seems the boy doesn't quite know how to control his strength. In terms of pure muscle I'd say he was about as strong as your average academy graduate. Hehe he always did have a strong grip."

Asuma chuckled at that he was afraid the boy had turned into a delinquent though now that he read the file more closely it appeared he was just standing up to some of the bullies in the orphanage.

"So are you finally willing to tell me why you hold such an interest in the boy, I know you and your team brought him to the village all those years ago but I don't see why you have such an interest, hell you don't even seem that interested in little Konohamaru and he is your nephew?" the old man couldn't suppress a small laugh when thinking about his only grand-child. "Speaking of which anyway I can expect more grand-children anytime soon?"

Asuma laughed a nervous chuckle at his father. "Nah not really, sorry pop I just couldn't seem to hit it off with any of the women in the capital."

"This wouldn't have anything to do Yuhi-san would it now?" After saying this he finally managed to get a blush out of his wayward son. "Haha don't worry about it Asuma your secrets safe with me."

"Anyway… I feel like there is something about the boy we're all missing. Call it curiosity or whatever you will I think he has something that no one else has." He scratched the back of his neck in a bit of embarrassment.

"Hmm okay then I suppose I could allow you to start training the boy, but not until he's at least ten years old. I don't want you running the boy into the ground without any training in him at all, the academy will bring him up to a standard to withstand proper shinobi training in that time."

Asuma was a bit disappointed but this wasn't war time so he expected his father to be rather strict when it came to the graduating age of the genin. "I guess that'll have to do then won't it. Oh before I forget when will you give him the letters from his parents?" Hiruzen had honestly nearly forgotten about the letters, he'd put them into the Hokage vault for safe keeping so many years ago now.

"I believe I planned to give them to him when he became a Chunin. If he can handle the responsibilities of being a leader then he can handle the news of his parentage. Though we still don't know who his mother is and I don't particularly feel like betraying Roshi's trust in us and reading the letters myself."

Again Asuma nodded before standing up and making his way out of the office. "Okay then see you round pop, I'm off to see some old friends." He left in another blush though seeing as Hiruzen took that time to bring up Kurenai again.

XxxxxX

Kouzan was sat in one of the many classrooms of the academy along with the rest of his year group, there was a man with a scar going across the bridge of his nose and hair tied up into a small ponytail at the front talking about what is to be expected of them throughout the four years of mandatory attendance they would be taking in order to be named as Genin of the hidden leaf village.

"Okay now class if you would like to come up and introduce yo0urselves in alphabetical order we'll get underway with the lessons schedule. First off Kouzan." The teacher who had introduced himself as Iruka Umino stepped aside to a let a reasonably tall boy step up to the front.

He sighed making his way to the front he looked over the rest of the class he recognised a few of the kids from around the village but he hadn't really gotten to know any of them bar a few who he recognised from the orphanage.

"My name is Kouzan, no family name. I like quiet and my own space… oh and my friend Tenten from the older class. I dislike bullies and loud people. My reasons for being a ninja are… meh I don't really have a reason to be one but nothing else really stood out as something to do with my life." He paused before turning to Iruka. "Was that good enough sensei?"

Iruka sighed before nodding his head slightly. "I suppose, if everyone will follow Kouzan's example we can carry on. Next Shino Aburame." Kouzan sighed in relief before he went and took his own seat once again.

Kouzan drowned out the introduction not really caring, he honestly never got on all that well with other people apart from Tenten, he could never give a reason why it was just that the other always were so energetic and annoying going on about this and that constantly. Maybe it was just because he was raised in a building full of other kids and he never had a moment to himself. He shook himself away from his thoughts when he saw the next person being called up to the front. He didn't want to know about them but he figured he would at least remember everyone's names.

The girl appeared similarly dressed to the boy who was up first. 'I think he said his name was Shino Aburame, Must be one of those bug people the matrons always call creepy.' "My name is Tsukiko Aburame and I'm Shino's cousin if anyone wanted to know." He drowned her out again after that just trying to remember her appearance to keep a name attached to. The girl was dressed in a short black trench coat with a reasonably high collar that ended at her jaw line and a small hood that she had down, showing her deep purple coloured hair. She also strangely wore a pair of deep purple sunglasses that matched her hair colour.

The rest of the class came and went with a fair few non-descript kids all apparently from civilian backgrounds. The only exception appeared to all be the clan heirs or heiresses of the main ninja clans within the village. Oh and one girl with bubble-gum pink that Kouzan was convinced came from some sort of hair dye as it couldn't have been natural. 'Says the guy with red eyes.' He snorted at his own joke before stopping himself. 'Got to make sure to stop doing that ten-chan always teases me about it.'

He was again brought out of his inner ramblings when quite possibly the most annoying person in existence appeared in front of the class. "Hi I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be the Hokage!" the obnoxiously loud blonde boy who had just appeared in front of the class screamed out for the whole world top hear. 'I'd be surprised if some of the Inuzuka's dogs didn't hear that from across the village.' Kouzan thought before beginning to slowly bang his head against the desk in a slow rhythm. 'Why is he here, I thought he got adopted two years ago and my life was sooo much better when it happened.'

Now Kouzan had met Naruto quite a lot growing up in the same orphanage and all especially considering they were only born a few weeks apart. Kouzan didn't hate the guy by any stretch he actually felt really bad the way some of the matrons would punish him and he'd even stopped him from being bullied a few times. But he was just sooo loud. No loud doesn't describe it Tenten can be loud heck the weird kid from the class above with sentient eyebrows was loud. No Naruto Uzumaki was about as subtle and pleasant as a sledgehammer driving a railway spike through your temple.

Unfortunately for Naruto more than a few of the other kids took this time to laugh at the poor blonde. And if it was one thing Kouzan didn't like it was seeing other people being bullied or picked on.

"Naruto just shut up and sit down would you some of us want to learn." A complete lie on his part but it got the job done the other kids settled down and left the whiskered boy alone unfortunately Naruto had apparently recognised him and came bounding over to sit next to the red eyed blonde.

"Kouzan I haven't seen in you in like forever." Kouzan winced at the volume again but kept his fist from entering the other boys face through sheer willpower alone.

"Uhuh sure, how've you been Naruto haven't seen you since you got adopted two years ago?" Naruto seemed to visibly deflate at this causing Kouzan to raise an eyebrow at the boy. "What's the matter it's pretty rare I say this but cat got your tongue Naruto?"

Naruto who was wearing a simple black t-shirt with a red spiral on the front of it. And a pair of orange cargo shorts. He also had an oversized pair of goggles on his forehead.

"I didn't get adopted, the matrons kicked me out of the orphanage. I've been living in an apartment by myself or two years." Kouzan was actually quite surprised by this he hadn't known about this as he had said earlier the matrons had simply told everyone that he had been adopted.

"Yeah I'm getting my own apartment today, all the orphans who enrol in the academy are given one, I think it's to try and make us more independent for when we become ninja. Maybe they just thought you had a lot of potential so decided you could handle it a bit younger than us?" Kouzan had a small smile on his face hoping to have made the smaller blonde feel slightly better about the situation, he knew realistically it was likely due to the carers hate for the boy.

Naruto seemed to perk up at this though. "Hehe thanks Kouzan you always did seem to look after us at the academy. Kouzan smiled at this though honestly he never really wanted to help the others too much he just honestly couldn't stand the meaner kids at the orphanage. He didn't like the bratty kids either but he didn't seem it fair to bully them, they were only kids after all. (He ignored the irony in his own words.)

Kouzan just rolled his shoulders before leaning back into his seat and paid attention to Iruka as he began his first lecture of the academy year. Naruto seemed a bit upset that the conversation was apparently over but got the hint and turned to pay attention as well. Well he tried before his ADHD like nature took over once again. Kouzan just rolled his eyes at the other blondes' antics. 'Sigh… this is why I don't like the kid he's so loud and annoying.'

XxxxxX

Before long lunch time had come and Kouzan could be found sitting in a tree that was in the training grounds at the back of the academy. He was eating a small bento box that the carers had made for him it wasn't much but it was enough to keep him from being hungry. He tensed as he felt someone approach him from behind before he felt a small pair of hands cover his eyes.

"Guess who?" A teasing female voice asked from behind him.

"Hi Ten-chan how are you." The younger boy asked without seeming surprised at all.

"Hmm you're no fun, you know that right?" The bun haired girl huffed while the boy just smiled at her slightly. "Anyway how is your first day going, making friends… or knowing you enemies?"

"No I haven't made any enemies at least I doubt it anyway… I did meet Naruto again though. The kids just as loud as ever." He said with a slight shake of his head.

It took Tenten a minute to remember the blonde boy. "Huh so he is in your class is he? You must really hate it there then. He always did know how to rile you up." Kouzan nodded slightly at the girl's words before trying to change the subject.

"So anyway who do I go to about getting my own apartment?" Tenten seemed to take a thinking pose before responding.

"Just ask your instructor they should know how to sort everything out, that's what happened to me. You'll get setup with a bursary from the academy fund tomorrow and it should last you a month until the next one. Feel free to ask if you want some tips on managing your money."

"Thanks I'll be sure to. I'm surprised you haven't brought up living together again. You were so set on it when you lived in the orphanage." Kouzan asked causing the girl to raise an eyebrow.

"Nah I learnt my lesson I know how you like your own space and it's not like I won't see you around anyway. Now that you'll have your own space we'll be able to hang out together all the time again just like old times."

"Guess you do know me too well after all Ten-chan. Thanks for remembering that. Maybe who knows the academy could be keeping us really busy for a while." Tenten just smiled slightly at the other kids attempt at getting away from even slightly.

"Now I'll be sure to make time for my little bro, how could I not." Kouzan huffed at the teasing of the older girl muttering under his breath about it being one time when she moved out of the orphanage.

The two quickly finished their lunches before the bell rang signalling they had to return to class saying goodbye when they got to the hallways separating the second years from the first. Kouzan quickly sat in another seat trying to avoid another meeting with Naruto. Another boy had complained he had stolen his seat but a small glare from the red-eyed boy sent him packing. Sighing in relief of not having to sit next to the other blonde. He turned to his left and noticed he had sat next to the Aburame girl, Tsukiko if he remembered right. He nodded too slightly and was pleased when she merely returned the gesture not willing to elaborate into further conversation.

Before long Iruka had returned before going into another lecture that quickly bored most of the class.

XxxxxX

(Two years later)

The time had passed fairly quickly in the leaf village the Ninja's strength and numbers were almost as strong as they had been in their prime. Asuma Sarutobi had taken up his position of Jonin with gusto, quickly earning a reputation among the village as a strong up close combatant, and while no one expected him to reach the height s of his father he was a more than respectable in his own right.

Kouzan had been in the academy for two years and honestly he couldn't quite wrap his head around a few of the topics that were mentioned by the instructors. It wasn't that any of the topics covered were particularly difficult, far from it in fact. No Kouzan's issue with the academy was quite simple really. He didn't understand why they were being taught such useless dribble. They'd been taught the history of the elemental nations for the full two years and other than the immediately important topics such as the relationship between the villages and the history of the Kage. He found the battles that Konoha had been involved in over the years interesting and finding out the important information about the other villages had been interesting. But going into such detail about the founding of the civilian council and the marriages and importance of the daimyo had taken all of his patience.

Honestly the academy didn't seem to pay any attention to the physical skills of ninja other than three very, very basic jutsu they were expected to learn within four years… four years it was pathetic. If anything made it worse it was the constant improvement of the clan heir in the class the orphans and civilian children were left in the wayside mostly, the only ones to even challenge the clan heirs were Tsukiko Aburame, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno. Kouzan himself had initially been within the top three of the academy but that had quickly gone to the wayside when he lost any semblance of motivation that he once had. He still won most of the taijutsu spars relying on his greater strength and some semblance of skill with the academy taijutsu style.

Releasing a sigh for the umpteenth time that day Kouzan turned his attention away from the lecture Iruka had been going on and on about for the past hour or so. He looked out the window his seat being near the back corner of the class allowed him to fully enjoy the views of the village and stay out of Iruka's direct firing line when it came to who was or was not paying attention to him.

"Psst, Kouzan." Kouzan groaned at the interruption to his personal space as he turned to the voice that had been trying to get his attention. He knew who the voice belonged to, how could he not they'd been bugging him every day for nearly a year now. "Are you sure you don't wanna pay attention Iruka says this is important?" He turned to look at the speaker to find Tsukiko looking right into his eyes from well from far too close than what he was comfortable with. The girl had taken an interest in him at the start of the academic year from some reason or another. He didn't mind mostly seeing as the girl kept to herself most of the time, but recently she had started to take it upon herself to get him back into the upper echelons of the class ranking system.

"If I ever find the need to know when or why Daimyo felt the need to name an entire city after his favourite pet tiger then I will regret this moment of ignorance terribly but until then I think I'm just gonna sit in my own little world and enjoy it for as long as I can." The red-eyed boy responded before returning his attention to the training ground outside, the older class seemed to be practising their taijutsu with a pretty exciting spar occurring between some bushy browed boy and what looked to be a Hyuuga. The fight didn't seem to be going in the brow boys favour with him faltering and panting quite strongly.

"Kouzan if you seem to find outside so interesting and gratifying why don't you tell me how the forests surrounding the village were created?" Iruka asked after pelting a small piece of chalk at the boys head.

Kouzan turned back to the class grumbling while rubbing the back of his head. "Something to do with a Kekkei Genkai that the first possessed. Mobuton or something like that." Iruka scowled at him before launching into a tirade.

"Mokuton you baka, how do you expect to learn anything if you never pay attention to the class, you won't be able to become a ninja if all you ever do is rely on an ability to fight to get through everything." Kouzan scowled at this he'd honestly lost all patience with the man and the academy's favouritism and devotion to the clan heirs.

"Really? Well maybe if you topped trying to fill our heads with pointless dribble the likes of which you've spent the past two years reciting maybe I'd actually try to remember the important information you feel like hinting at every now and then." The entire class looked shocked, no one bar Tsukiko and Naruto had ever spoken to the boy for longer than a greeting or two. To hear him tear into Iruka like this was quite a shock.

Iruka was furious he had been assigned to teach the future generation everything they needed to know to be promising ninja of the leaf. And here was this boy questioning him in front of the entire class.

"GET OUT! I will see you after class is over you insufferable brat." None in the class had seen Iruka lose his cool so heavily before. Kouzan just stood up before leaving not seeming to care either way. He left the class and sighed before leaning against the opposite wall before sliding down onto his backside and resting.

XxxxxX

Asuma walked through the hallways of the hokage tower before recognising his father's receptionist walking towards him. "He doesn't happen to busy right now does he?" he asked quickly as they passed. After receiving a negative from the thirty-odd year old woman he smiled and strolled toward and into the office. "Hey pops guess why I'm here." Asuma said as he dropped into the seat opposite the desk already in the middle of lighting a cigarette.

Hiruzen sighed he'd hoped the boy would show him some respect in his office but the supposed if he didn't expect it from Naruto there would be no reason to expect it from Asuma. "No I don't why don't you enlighten this aged soul?" Honestly as much as he enjoyed his sons company he had a lot of paperwork to do today.

"Ha-ha alright then I'll cut to the chase. I want to start training Kouzan for a while. Just until he graduates don't think I'm quite ready for an apprentice yet. Though I do intend to let him know of his father's origins at least any child needs to know something of their roots at least. Don't worry I will not let him know of their letters to him." Again the Sandaime had forgotten about the boy, well forgotten about was a strong word maybe just chosen to focus on more immediate matters in the meantime, yes that sounded much better than forgotten.

"Hmm I suppose that's fine. You'll have to inform his main instructor at the academy though; I believe his name is Iruka Umino. A couple years your junior but a promising Chunin anyway." Asuma nodded at this happy to have his father's permission. "Unless there is anything else I really need to get back to this… sorry maybe we can catch up with some sake at some point soon." Hiruzen had added the last part after seeing some disappointment on his sons face.

"Hmm, sure sounds good see you later than Hokage-sama." Asuma said as he left the room eliciting a small chuckle from his father. 'The boy only ever shows respect when I give him what he wants just like when he was a kid again.'

XxxxxX

Asuma was on his way to Iruka's classroom when he spotted a boy with sandy blonde hair asleep outside of the classroom he chuckled at seeing the boy there but wondered what had caused him to be kicked out of the class. Just as he approached the room the bell seemed to go signalling all the other students to dash out of the room as fast as possible and waking up the blonde boy in the process. A purple haired girl seemed to stop and let him know that Iruka was ready to see him now before heading off to talk to another boy in a trench coat.

He stood outside and waited for a few minutes before deciding to go in and talk to his hopefully future student and his current teacher then and there. He walked into a curious site. The blonde boy from earlier had his hands in the air with his fire red eyes glaring at the teacher in front of him as he seemed to be ranting at the pointless teaching exercises the instructor had taken upon his shoulders to instil to his class for the past two years. Iruka on the other hand seemed to be even more furious at the lack of respect the blonde had been showing him.

"Alright I think that's enough don't the two of you." Asuma said as he stopped behind Kouzan before placing a calming but firm hand down onto his shoulder. Iruka seemed to immediately lose all of his anger at seeing the rank of the man in front of him. Kouzan on the other hand had turned and smacked the hand away with a scowl. But hadn't bothered to argue with the jonin seeing as he didn't know him. "Now would one of you mind 'calmly' explaining to me what is going on here?"

Kouzan looked ready to yell again but stopped himself before nodding to Iruka to go first. "Kouzan here seems to think there is no point in learning anything I'm taking my time to teach to the class and has even taken to accusing me of favouritism. Obviously I was upset with the level of disrespect shown to me and the academy."

"Those are some heavy accusations there Kouzan enough to get Iruka-san is found guilty, care to give me your side of the story then Kouzan." Kouzan paled slightly at that information but didn't back down he may have no real passion to be a Shinobi but he didn't want to sit here for hour upon hour wasting his time anymore.

"The information we are expected to learn is mostly pointless. No real ninja would care or even be expected to remember most of the spiel this guy goes on and on about every day. I mean for kami's sake he went on about the naming of some random city in fire countries relation to some tiger some daimyo owned at some point in the last century for over an hour… an hour! How are we orphans or civilian kids meant to become respectable ninja when we are so clearly being left behind and ignored? And then when anyone other than the clan heirs ask for extra physical training in the actual arts of Shinobi whether it's nin, tai or genjutsu he just turns and claims if we want to train we are expected to do it on our own time. Yet all the clan members get training from their parents or other clan members and yet we are expected to keep up with them somehow. The only ones in the class who are apparently keeping up with the clan kids are Haruno and Uzumaki-san. Uzumaki seems to get special treatment from Iruka anyway seeing as I've seen them both at that ramen place together at who knows what time in the evening. Fair enough Haruno is up their I mean she is really smart but doesn't seem to have trained in the actual ninja arts at all so she may as well just be a trivia machine at this point." Iruka looked a bit lost at having some errors in his logic pointed out in front of the older jonin. He honestly hadn't expected Kouzan to have any valid points without sounding like a petulant child.

Asuma noting that neither side had anything to say at this point took a few moments before turning to Kouzan with a serious look on his face. "Well in no way am I taking sides here so just listen to what I have to say without interrupting okay?" seeing a pouting nod from the boy he carried on. "Good, first off you shouldn't be questioning your instructors they have been assigned because the Hokage believes they can do this job. Secondly you shouldn't be ignoring anything the instructors tell you or you could miss something vital. I'm from a clan myself and honestly never thought about this from a civilian point of view and it's honestly quite surprising. But I've been told that you didn't have much motivation for this… anyway that can be talked about later." He stopped clearly aware that is words had been taken for some worth by the boy.

"Now Iruka I'd like a couple of questions answered quickly." Seeing him nod he continued. "How many hours a day do you spend on the actual Shinobi arts outside of the classroom?"

"We spend two of the seven hours a day on the Shinobi arts." Iruka answered confident that was the correct amount stipulated in the curriculum provided. Though was concerned by the frown on the other shinobi's face.

"Okay, now can you answer my why you seem to think genin will be able to survive in the world on book smarts alone. I know that is not how I was taught in the academy and I know that is not how you were taught either. Also I know for a fact my father would not stand for his genin to be so unprepared. So I ask you who has been telling you to stick to this curriculum."

Iruka was terrified at this point he had forgotten who he was talking to and had only just realised that Asuma was the current Hokage's son. "T-t-the current curriculum was stipulated and drawn together by the council to be used in educating the children of the academy." This again caused some unrest in Asuma as he knew that the hokage should have been the only one capable of changing the academy curriculum deciding to bring this up with his father at a later point.

"That's disturbing but anyway you shouldn't be playing favourites and with cases like Kouzan and the other civilian kids you are the only sensei they have if they aren't matching up with the rest of the clan children then you have an obligation to try and help them progress. Just so you know the matter of the curriculum will be brought into speculation."

Kouzan at this point had taken a back seat to the conversation happy to let the adults talk for a while. He wasn't used to arguing with people or talking so much and had worn himself out. He prided himself on not caring about other people and here he was defending the plight of his fellow student… ugghhh caring was too much effort after all.

"Anyway I came here for a reason. Young Kouzan here caught my attention some years ago and I've decided to give him a little extra training on the side if the two of you are okay with that." Iruka was surprised for a Shinobi of Asuma's calibre to take an interest in a random student there must have been something up, but he knew he needed to be in the man's good graces.

"That will be fine Asuma-san I'm not one to deny someone else teaching my students. Provided Kouzan here has no issues with this arrangement."

The boy in question had frozen like a deer in the headlights at this. 'He brought me to the village, he knows who I am he knows where I come from. He… he could know who my parents were.'

"You mean you know who my parents are?" Kouzan asked hope evident in is voice. Asuma had to wince at the tone of the boy.

"Listen, I know who your father is but not your mother. I will tell you about your father as much as I am allowed." He stopped to give a pointed look to Iruka; the teacher nodded and got up to leave the room. Asuma waited until the man had left before he put a hand on the boys shoulder.

"Now what I'm about to tell you is confidential information and is not known in the village so you need to promise to keep this to yourself and those you trust to keep hum okay?" Kouzan nodded he was never the type to go blurting news from the rafters or even a gossip so he had no problem here.

"Your father is or was an Iwa-nin named Roshi he is also known as Yoton no Roshi. He fled Iwa when you were born as far as we are aware and asked for Konoha to make sure you were raised away from harm. We don't know what the situation was in Iwa at the time but it was warrant enough for your father to fight and kill a full squad of Iwa hunter-nin and what looked to be a few teams of Ame-nin."

Kouzan couldn't contain himself his father was from Iwa, as in their enemies from the last war… wait Yoton no Roshi he remembered that name from the history lessons he'd actually paid attention to. Roshi had been a terrifying enemy in the war known to have taken down entire squads of Konoha-nin. There was no way he could tell people who his father was he'd more than likely killed a fair few of people relatives over the course of the war.

"My father was our enemy he killed Konoha-nin…" he as quickly interrupted with a quick clip round the head from Asuma.

"Jeez none of that kid. It was war it happens he was only following orders don't hold it against the man. Now he gave our team a scroll to give to you provided you made genin I hope to get you to a level where you'll be able to learn them. That cool with you kid."

"Did he leave any messages for me? Any news about my mother?"

"Your mother was from Ame, that's all we know. He told you to make him proud and that he and your mother both loved you very much." Kouzan at this point had started to cry before he threw himself at Asuma.

"I don't know if I have what it takes and I never cared too much about being a ninja but if I became strong enough do you think it'd make him proud?"

"As far as the village is aware kid he's still alive, maybe one day you can prove to him you're strong enough to have made him proud." Kouzan stepped back his flame-red eyes seeming to have a bit more life in them than anyone had ever seen before.

"Ha kid I'm sure you will. Now come on you go eat with your friends. I'll be at your home on Saturday to start our training. I'll be training you on weekends from now until you graduate from the academy okay. Now I have to go talk to my old man about some things. I'll see you Saturday kid." He stood up and left the room via a shunshin straight to the Hokage's office.

" See ya round Asuma-sensei… explaining this to Ten-chan is gonna be a huge pain." Kouzan said before heading to find said girl in their usual tree for lunch.

XxxxxX

Alright that's the first chapter/prologue done for now. Not much to say really other than feel free to review I'm worried about making an Oc story so any feedback will be much appreciated.

Oh and merry Christmas and what not.


End file.
